Low dynamic range (LDR) imaging may refer to representing the brightness of captured digital images (e.g., photographs and motion video) with 8 or fewer bits per pixel. As a result, up to 256 levels of brightness may be supported. Currently, a wide range of video output devices (e.g., computer monitors, tablet and smartphone screens, televisions, etc.) support displaying LDR images.
However, real-world scenes often exhibit a wider range of brightness than can be represented by LDR imaging. As an example scene with a wide brightness range, consider an individual standing in a dark room in front of a window. This scene may include both extremely bright regions (e.g., sunlit features outside the window) and extremely dark regions (e.g., the features in the room). Ideally, a photograph of this scene would include both the details in the bright regions and the details in the dark regions.